Doghouse

kyle@kkatfish.com

Kyle Ketchell

Site Reliability Engineer · Distributed Systems · Cloud-Native Infrastructure

Site Reliability and Infrastructure Engineer who builds cloud-native, horizontally-scaling systems — and keeps mission-critical infrastructure running anywhere on Earth. Designed and built WARP, a data-quality platform built to analyze terabytes of geophysical data across thousands of sensors, and capable of processing years of waveform data in under a week on commodity worker nodes — no supercomputer required. Nine years spanning distributed-systems engineering, Linux/Windows/Cisco operations, automation, and security, with a track record of turning brittle, manual environments into automated, observable platforms. Has personally deployed and maintained field infrastructure at the most extreme sites on the planet — from Wake Island to a tent camp on Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf. Writes the code, owns the pipeline, and ships the results. Also willing to travel to extreme locations to turn wrenches, dig holes, and push buttons.

[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ cat flagship/

Flagship Engineering

  • WARP — Waveform Anomaly Reporting Platform

    • Cloud-native, horizontally-scaling data-quality platform that validates seismic, infrasound, and other geophysical waveform data at planetary scale.
    • Architected to scale horizontally to thousands of sensor channels and terabytes of data; capable of analyzing years of waveform data in under a week on commodity worker nodes — no supercomputer required.
    • Eliminated redundant re-analysis, cutting daily data transfer by roughly 98%.
    • Built for reliability and observability end-to-end, from ingestion through anomaly reporting.

  • PGTQ — PostgreSQL Task Queue

    • Lightweight, massively-scalable distributed task queue built on PostgreSQL, coordinating work across controller and worker fleets — the connective fabric behind WARP's distributed analysis.
    • Sync and async Python APIs (PGTQ / AsyncPGTQ); batches tasks by UUID and awaits group completion for ordered, fan-out pipelines.

  • Network Security Engineer / Site Reliability Engineer — International Monitoring System

    • Engineer and maintain network and systems infrastructure for remote seismic and infrasound monitoring sites operating in extreme edge environments.
    • Support secure, reliable delivery of real-time geophysical signal recordings from field stations to downstream scientific and operational systems.
    • Implement network access controls, segmentation, monitoring, and other security controls across a mix of enterprise, scientific, and operational technology environments.
    • Collaborate with scientists, engineers, analysts, field teams, government partners, and international stakeholders to deploy new systems, maintain mission-critical technology, and improve the resilience of long-lived installations.
    • Contribute to the infrastructure supporting the International Monitoring System and the broader nuclear nonproliferation mission.
[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ cat experience.md

Professional Experience

  1. Seismo-Acoustic Network Security Engineer

    2023 – Present

    Wilson Alaska Technical Center — University of Alaska Fairbanks

    Fairbanks, AK

    • Designed and built WARP (Waveform Anomaly Reporting Platform) — a cloud-native, horizontally-scaling data-quality platform that validates seismic, infrasound, and geophysical waveform data at planetary scale.
    • Architect and secure the backbone network, hardening, and remote-access controls for a global seismo-acoustic sensor array supporting nuclear test-ban treaty (CTBT) verification.
    • Planned, tested, and orchestrated a week-long infrastructure migration (over 1,000 total endpoints) completed with just two seconds of downtime.
    • Personally deploy and maintain sensor, power, and network infrastructure in the field at the most remote sites on Earth — living on site to do it, from Wake Island to a tent camp on Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf.
    • Build and maintain supporting infrastructure servers, observability stacks, and automation tooling.
    • Instruct team members and industry partners in cybersecurity best practices.

  2. System Administrator

    2022 – 2023

    Engineering Technology Services — Colorado State University

    Fort Collins, CO

    • Led several overhauls of system infrastructure to increase security compliance and save the department over $10,000.
    • Streamlined lab deployment from 10–12 hour manual installs to under 2 hours — a 5000%+ improvement — via MDT/SCCM imaging.
    • Redesigned Group Policy objects to dramatically reduce processing time and network bandwidth.
    • Administered Linux systems hosting dashboards, an inventory system, and other time-saving services.
    • Developed and implemented backup and recovery plans for critical systems and applications.
    • Led a team of system administrators deploying lab spaces across multiple facilities.
    • Monitored server performance and capacity with Prometheus and Grafana.

  3. Support Technician

    2020 – 2023

    Engineering Technology Services — Colorado State University

    Fort Collins, CO

    • Diagnosed and repaired advanced software and hardware issues to deliver a hassle-free computing environment to faculty, staff, and students.
    • Established and documented disaster-recovery and emergency procedures.
    • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to implement IT projects and initiatives.
    • Provided advanced technical support to end users with prompt resolution to minimize downtime.

  4. Independent IT Contractor

    2022

    Self-Employed

    Colorado

    • Designed and installed interior/exterior smart lighting for a small business, saving over $2,000/year.
    • Strengthened building security with a digital lock system including prox-cards and timed electronic locks.
    • Installed network appliances including Cisco routers and wireless access points.

  5. Cybersecurity Intern

    2018

    Murray Security Services

    Colorado Springs, CO

    • Delivered new password-management infrastructure to clients, strengthening overall security posture.
    • Trained clients on cybersecurity best practices.
    • Studied under CEO and founder Dr. Shawn P. Murray.

  6. Audio/Visual Technician

    2016 – 2021

    Lewis-Palmer School District

    Monument, CO

    • Executed the technical director's vision for over 40 live performances.
    • Designed, installed, operated, and documented sound and lighting systems for live performances.
    • Built long-term A/V solutions for conference rooms, studios, and performance halls across multiple buildings.
[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ ls projects/

Selected Projects

  • WARP — Waveform Anomaly Reporting Platform

    • Cloud-native, horizontally-scaling data-quality platform that validates seismic, infrasound, and other geophysical waveform data at planetary scale.
    • Architected to scale horizontally to thousands of sensor channels and terabytes of data; capable of analyzing years of waveform data in under a week on commodity worker nodes — no supercomputer required.
    • Eliminated redundant re-analysis, cutting daily data transfer by roughly 98%.
    • Built for reliability and observability end-to-end, from ingestion through anomaly reporting.

  • PGTQ — PostgreSQL Task Queue

    • Lightweight, massively-scalable distributed task queue built on PostgreSQL, coordinating work across controller and worker fleets — the connective fabric behind WARP's distributed analysis.
    • Sync and async Python APIs (PGTQ / AsyncPGTQ); batches tasks by UUID and awaits group completion for ordered, fan-out pipelines.

  • PUSH — Updates & Software to Hosts

    • PowerShell tool that automates deploying one or more applications to one or more hosts.
    • Replaced slow, manual software rollouts across managed lab fleets.

  • MDT / SCCM Imaging Pipeline

    • Stood up a new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit share for deploying Windows and applications org-wide.
    • Built custom Windows 10/11 and Server 2016/2019/2022 images and silent installers for 200+ applications.
    • Improved deployment speed by over 5000%.

  • Digital Signage Platform

    • Implemented a new digital signage solution end-to-end.
    • Created and administered the supporting server infrastructure and client deployment workflow.
[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ cat skills.txt

Technical Skills

Distributed Systems
Cloud-native, horizontally-scaling data platforms; queue-based fan-out, worker fleets, and Postgres-backed coordination at scale.
Operating Systems
Linux (CentOS, RHEL, Fedora, Debian, Arch, and variants), Windows, and macOS — from bare-metal installs to lifecycle management at enterprise scale.
Virtualization
Proxmox, Hyper-V, VMware, and OpenStack; high-availability design and migration strategies.
Scripting & Automation
Bash, Python, Ansible, and PowerShell for deployments, troubleshooting, and day-to-day operations.
Networking
TCP/IP, IPv6, DNS, DHCP, VLANs, VPNs, IPSec/GRE; Starlink; Cisco routing and switching.
Server Applications
Apache, Nginx, Postfix / Microsoft Exchange, and Docker — built for security, optimized for scale.
Databases
MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL/YugabyteDB, SQLite, and InfluxDB; schema design, replication, and tuning.
Windows Enterprise
Active Directory, Group Policy, print/file servers, Exchange, WDS, WSUS, MDT, and SCCM.
Observability
rsyslog, Telegraf, Grafana, OpenObserve, Prometheus, and OpenTelemetry; actionable dashboards and alerting.
Programming
Go, Java, C/C++, C#, JavaScript (React, Svelte, Astro), SQL, Visual Basic, and Python.
Security & Compliance
System hardening, access controls, patch management, and auditing aligned to NIST and CIS.
DevOps
CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure automation, and shifting hero-centric ops toward collaborative, agile practice.
[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ cat education.md

Education

Colorado State University

B.S. Computer Science

Concentration in Networks & Cybersecurity · Minor in Mathematics

Colorado State University — Fort Collins, CO

May 2023 · graduated in 3 years

[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ ls certifications/

Certifications

  • CompTIA

    CompTIA Security+ (CE)

    CompTIA · May 2023

  • EC-Council

    Certified Secure Computer User (C|SCU)

    EC-Council

[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ cat awards.txt

Awards & Accomplishments

[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ cat keywords.txt

Keywords

  • Distributed Systems
  • Cloud-Native
  • Horizontal Scaling
  • Data Quality
  • System Administrator
  • Network Engineer
  • Cybersecurity Analyst
  • Site Reliability
  • DevOps
  • Linux
  • Enterprise Linux
  • RHEL
  • Windows Server
  • Active Directory
  • Group Policy
  • SCCM
  • MDT
  • Intune
  • Virtualization
  • Proxmox
  • VMware
  • Hyper-V
  • Docker
  • Ansible
  • Bash
  • Python
  • PowerShell
  • Networking
  • Firewall
  • VPN
  • TCP/IP
  • DNS
  • DHCP
  • Nginx
  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL
  • Prometheus
  • Grafana
  • Observability
  • Automation
  • CI/CD
  • Disaster Recovery
  • Compliance
  • NIST
  • CIS
  • Risk Management
  • Documentation
  • Agile
  • Asset Management
  • Mobile Device Management

[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ news

[guest@kkatfish.com] ~$ sl

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